Ski pole wrist strap



March 18, 1969 c. 1.. CHRISTENSEN 3,433,495

SKI POLE WRIST STRAP Filed Dec. 14, 1966 INVENT OR [aw/1M. fymrmmv ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ski pole wrist strap construction in which the Wrist strap is attached to the ski pole in the form of an ever open loop for the reception of the gloved hand of the skier.

The present invention relates to a wrist strap for a ski pole and has for an object the provision of a wrist strap having an ever open looped part through which the skier can readily and easily pass his gloved hand.

Heretofore, the wrist strap of a ski pole has been made of leather or plastic fastened to the ski pole and hangs limply in a wholly closed position so that it requires considerable effort for the skier to force his gloved hand through the closed strap to grip the pole.

One object of the present invention is to overcome this disadvantage of the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a ski pole with the wrist strap secured to the pole and the hand grip of the pole and in which the strap is in ever open looped formation adjacent the hand grip so that the skier can pass his gloved hand freely through the ever open loop to engage the hand grip properly.

In its broadest aspect the present invention contemplates the provision of a wrist strap for use With a ski pole having a hand grip, said strap comprising a looped part of flexible material adapted to be secured to the hand grip and means for spreading the flexible looped part into an ever open formation so that the gloved hand of the skier can be readily passed through the open loop to grasp the hand grip and locate the strap about the Wrist of the skier.

More specifically the present invention aims to provide a ski pole comprising a shank, a hand grip secured to one end of the shank, a wrist strap of flexible material having free end portions attached to said hand grip, and means secured to said wrist strap to maintain the strap in ever open looped formation so that a skier can easily and readily pass his gloved hand through said ever open looped formation to grasp the hand grip and dispose the looped formation of the strap about his wrist.

A further object of the invention is to secure a strap or segment of rubber, relatively heavy leather, metal or other suitable material to the inner faces of the conventional flexible looped part of the wrist strap of a ski pole so that the wrist strap will be permanently held in at least a semi-open position sufficient to permit the free insertion and withdrawal of the gloved hand of the skier through the open wrist strap.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a ski pole and wrist strap in accordance with the prior art,

FIGURE 2 is a similar view of a ski pole having applied thereto a wrist strap constructed in accordance with the present invention,

3,433,495 Patented Mar. 18, 1969 ice FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the wrist strap in accordance with the present invention, and

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the spreader means before application of the wrist strap.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and especially to FIGURE 1 thereof, 10 indicates the shank of a conventional ski pole, 11 indicates the conventional hand grip which may be of hollow construction and frictionally held on the shank 10 and 12 is the conventional wrist strap of the prior art. These wrist straps are usually made of flexible material such as leather or the like and the wrist strap hangs substantially straight down in a closed condition so that it is extremely difficult for a skier to force his gloved hand through this closed loop to grasp the hand grip of the ski pole. The strap 12 is folded upon itself as at 13 to provide the wrist receiving loop and the free end portions 14 of the strap are securely held between the shank 10 and the hand grip 11 by friction or they may be riveted to the shank or hand grip.

FIGURE 2 of the drawing shows how this difficulty is overcome by the present invention. In FIGURE 2, the wrist strap is designated 15 and may be folded upon itself as is the strap 12 to provide the loop and the free end portions 16 which may be secured to the ski pole in the same manner as the portions 14.

In order to maintain the intermediate portions 17 of the folded over strap apart to provide an ever open wrist receiving opening 18, a spreader device or means 19 is provided. This device 19 may be formed of rubber, leather, metal, plastic or other suitable material having sufficient rigidity to hold the opposed portions 17 of the strap 15 permanently in spaced relation to provide the ever open wrist receiving opening 18. The spreader device 19 is folded or bent upon itself as at 20 into a V-shape wedge having the legs 21. The device 19 in inverted position is disposed between the opposed portions 17 of the strap 15 and is secured by any suitable means as by adhesive or rivets 23 which extend through suitably aligned holes 22 formed in the legs 21 of the spreader 19 and the portions 17 of the wrist strap to the inner faces of the portions 17 near the free end portions 16 of the strap adjacent to the point where these free end portions are secured to the ski pole.

The apex 20 of the device 19 is spaced sufficiently far from where the free end portions 16 of the strap 15 are secured to the hand grip 11 so that the strap 15 has free swinging movement with respect to the hand grip 11 to permit free movement of the wrist of the skier.

Since the legs 21 of the spreader diverge outwardly and downwardly, they will spread the portions 17 and permanently hold them in spaced apart relation to provide the ever open opening 18.

As can be seen from FIGURE 4 of the drawing, the spreader device is an elongated strip of material of substantially the same width as the wrist strap before it is fashioned into its V-shape.

In use, since the spreader device 19 provides the ever open opening 18, the skier even though he is wearing bulky gloves will have no trouble passing his gloved hand through the opening 18 to locate the strap 15 about his wrist to hold the ski pole captive at all times and under all circumstances even in the event of falls or spills so that his gloved hand can firmly and properly grasp the hand grip 11 of the ski pole 10. The location of the wrist strap with its ever open opening 18 will facilitate the orientation of the gloved hand to the proper position on the hand grip 11.

It will be noted that the practice of the present invention involves no change in the structure of the ski pole, hand grip or wrist strap 50 that it can be applied to ski poles already manufactured. It merely requires the securing of the spreader device to a conventional ski pole wrist strap.

When a wrist strap of the present invention wears out or becomes broken it is only necessary to remove the wrist strap and replace it with a new one.

The application of the spreader device 19 has no harmful effect on the wrist strap, does not interfere with the free movement of the strap with respect to the ski pole and permits free movement of the wrist of the skier when the strap encircles the skiers wrist and yet holds the pole captive to the wrist of the skier.

What I claim is:

1. For use with a ski pole having a hand grip, a wrist strap comprising a looped part of flexible material adapted to be secured to the hand grip, and means for spreading the flexible looped part into an ever open formation without depriving the looped part of its flexibility so that the gloved hand of a skier can be readily passed through the open loop to locate the strap about the wrist of the skier and to grasp the hand grip with the portion of the looped part adjacent the ski pole entrapped between the ski pole and the hand of the skier, said looped part including two free end portions adapted to be affixed to the hand grip and said spreader means being secured to the interior of the looped part adjacent said free end portions to provide a pivot about which the looped portion can swing to permit said adjacent portion of the looped part to be brought into engagement with the ski pole by the hand of the skier after the hand has been inserted through the ever open loop.

2. A wrist strap as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spreader means is a substantially V-shaped wedge and has its legs secured to opposite interior faces of the looped part.

3. A wrist strap as claimed in claim 2, wherein, said wedge is secured to the looped part inwardly of the free end portions sufliciently spaced from the point at which the free end portions are secured to the ski pole so that the wrist strap has free swinging movement with respect to the hand grip so that the hand of the skier can grip said adjacent portions of the looped part against the ski pole and to permit free movement of the wrist of the skier when the looped part encircles the wrist of the skier.

4. For use with a ski pole having a hand grip, a wrist strap comprising a looped element of flexible material adapted to have a portion thereof secured to the hand grip, and means secured to said element adjacent said portion of the looped element for spreading the flexible looped element into a partly open formation while retaining the inherent flexibility of the looped element so that the gloved hand of the skier can be readily passed through the partly opened loop to locate the strap about the wrist of the skier and to permit the gloved hand of the skier to grasp the hand grip with the part of the looped element adjacent the ski pole entrapped between the ski pole and the hand of the skier.

5. A wrist strap as claimed in claim 4 wherein said means comprises a spreading member having sufficient rigidity to provide the partly open formation and having sufficient flexibility to permit the element to retain its flexibility so that after the gloved hand of the skier has passed through the partly open formation the strap is free to wrap itself snugly around the wrist of the skier when the gloved hand of the skier grasps the hand grip and the part of the strap adjacent the portion thereof which is secured to the hand grip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 323,188 7/1885 McManus l05354 2,208,365 7/1940 Gerber.

FOREIGN PATENTS 987,257 4/1951 France. 197,613 8/ 1938 Switzerland.

LEO FRIAGLIA, Primary Examiner.

M. L. SMITH, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. -354; -45 

